September 24, 2022

"Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, long entwined, continue on vile parallel paths: They would rather destroy their countries than admit they have lost."

"They have each created a scrim of lies to justify lunatic personal ambition.... As our ancestors did, the Ukrainians are fighting an abusive overlord, against all odds, for democracy. It’s especially inspiring as a split screen with Trump and his MAGA forces trying to bulldoze democracy and rip away women’s rights. The Ukrainians are battling for a luminous ideal — unlike Trump and Putin, who are smashing a luminous ideal for their own benefit, driven by their dread of being called losers. Both thugs are getting boxed in, Trump by a bouquet of investigations into his chicanery and Putin by an angry public pushback against his bloody vanity war.... Both Putin and Trump are famous for accusing everyone else of their own sins.... It would be poetic justice to think the walls were closing in on Putin and Trump at the same time, because at some point, all this will become unsustainable...." 

Maureen Dowd, in "Solo Soulless Saboteurs" (NYT).

Would it be poetic justice for the walls to close in on Putin and Trump at the same time for the same reasons?

From Wikipedia:
Poetic justice is a literary device in which ultimately virtue is rewarded and viciousness is punished.... Notably, poetic justice does not merely require that vice be punished and virtue rewarded, but also that logic triumph. If, for example, a character is dominated by greed for most of a romance or drama, they cannot become generous. The action of a play, poem, or fiction must obey the rules of logic as well as morality. During the late 17th century, critics pursuing a neo-classical standard would criticize William Shakespeare in favor of Ben Jonson precisely on the grounds that Shakespeare's characters change during the course of the play. When Restoration comedy, in particular, flouted poetic justice by rewarding libertines and punishing dull-witted moralists, there was a backlash in favor of drama, in particular, of more strict moral correspondence.

We watch the news, but do we watch it as if it's a play and expect it to follow conventions of plot? Or do we just think it would be satisfying if it stories resolved themselves like a theatrical plot? And yet, while you're waiting for good to be rewarded and evil punished, you may find you've stumbled into a Restoration comedy.

151 comments:

DAN said...

You need a "walls closing in" tag.

Joe Smith said...

I don't give a fuck about Putin or Ukraine.

Any money or weapons we give Ukraine should be contingent upon us being paid back.

Trump has a legitimate beef, but part of it is his own doing.

He should have gone scorched earth before leaving DC.

He didn't. That's on him...

Patrick Henry was right! said...

Bulldoze democracy and rip away women's rights by placing abortion within the democratic process and requiring the Constitutional amendments process to actually amendment the Constitution, as approved by the people who adopted the Constitution by voting on it, i.e., by democratic means.
All leftists are mentally ill.
They worship a failed 19th century political ideal, socialism. It would be sad if it weren't so destructive.

rhhardin said...

I think of Dowd as riding the same pink pony for 50 years.

Tim said...

And once again Dowd shows how utterly delusional she really is. IANAP, but if she has any friends, they should think about an intervention and getting her professional help.

mccullough said...

Ukraine is slightly less corrupt than Russia.

The people who run Ukraine care about their own money and power. Same as Russia. Same as the US.

For every dollar in aid the US sends Ukraine, $.50 gets run back to the Romneys, Bidens, etc.

If Ukraine loses, the Swamp will figure out another way to launder money back to itself.

Enjoy the decline.

rcocean said...

I just wrote a commnet about how I didn't like the way Nurse rachet was turned into a villian, and up pops Dowd - the most unfunny bitch ever.

Notice that Dowd, like most libtards, can never explain what specific Polices and decisions Trump made as POTUS that made him vile. And as "Bad as Putin". Its all just pure hate against someone who challenged the. And now, she chortles over the idea of Trump being Jailed, like the true fascist she is.

when your tempted to write her off as a freak, just remember the NYT is the newspaper of the power elite. Its their newspaper. And they love Dowd.

Gospace said...

As The White House constinues to run the country, overriding anything President Joe Biden says, Dowd obsesses about Trump.

And after 6 years of intensive invstigation by the MSM, the FBI and CIA, and the the NY AG, they still haven't found any actul crimes. Making Trump, in their eyes, an idiot yet a criminal genius so smart he can hide all his criminal activites.

If only he was a drunken drug addict who would leave his laptop documenting his crimes around, it would make life so much easier for the Trump haters.

Meanwhile we all wait to see what The White House has to say next, since anytjing The President says is totally inoperative unless, of course, The White House actually agrees with it. A major hurricane may hit FLorida, another may shur down drilling platforms, DJIA is down, Putin is threatening the use of nuclear weapons, and none of us have a clue what The White House will do about these problems, if anything. Heck, we don't even know if The President will say anything.

Earnest Prole said...

Shorter version: Gotta write another column blah blah blah.

Michael K said...

So, Dowd is all in on the Russia hoax. Inga and she seem soulmates.

Wow ! This what passes for thought on the left.

Owen said...

Usage! How can you be “boxed in” by a “bouquet of investigations”?

Didn’t Mo report a bad marijuana trip in Denver a few years ago? Is she having a flashback?

Buckwheathikes said...

It's not enough that the Democrats stole the election and have their invalid at the fake White House set, where they daily walk back his comments.

They require that you kneel before them. You must admit your defeat.

The karma these people are going to get is well-earned.

When Putin nukes New York, one can only hope the coordinates are about 1,500 feet above the New York Times building.

Won't be shedding any tears, I can tell you that.

Rabel said...

What absolute horseshit.

n.n said...

Round and around in the age of that's not funny and we're not serious.

tim in vermont said...

What is the “luminous ideal”? Is it control over a territory that doesn’t want them because of a line Joseph Stalin drew on a map? Is it furtherance of neocon foreign policy while the Biden and Clinton types salivate over divvying up trillions in Russian mineral wealth? It is about national self determination, because the footprint of the Ukrainian nation is far smaller than the recognized borders, and Ukraine only annexed Crimea a couple decades ago, and if the decree of Stalin is Holy Writ, why didn’t they respect Crimea’s desire to remain independent, as Uncle Joe decreed?

Dowd’s column reminds me of the Iliad, basically a lot of pretty rhetoric to justify the pillaging of Troy.

n.n said...

Human rites, yes. Women's rights, no. That said, in the best case, we have returned to where baby meets granny, in state, if not in process. In the worst case we have a baby... uh, fetal-American... Person of Carbon (PoC) on a metal slab or reduced, reused, and recycled (i.e. clinical cannibalism).

hstad said...

Maureen Dowd - NY Times - another Industrial Grade Distortion from the MSM that's all they got.

baghdadbob said...

Trump's "chicanery," she asserts without example or evidence.

Shouting Thomas said...

Ukrainians are fighting for Joe and Hunter Biden’s money laundering schemes.

The existence of Ukraine as an independent nation is almost entirely a CIA fiction. The CIA carried out a coup in 2014 and installed a puppet government. Dowd, like the rest of the liberal U.S. press, is a U.S. intel stooge. Both Matt Taibbi and Glenn Greenwald have been doing great writing about how the liberal U.S. media have become megaphones for the FBI and CIA.

There are no good guys in this conflict, not the U.S., nor the CIA, nor Ukraine, nor Russia. Trump was the only sensible character in this sordid mess. He tried to avert the war by creating a nominal alliance with Russia to oppose China.

A pox on all sides, except for Trump. The psy-ops campaign to drive him out of office was largely a reaction to his attempts to avoid this war and cut off the money laundering scams.

Wince said...

Biden and Putin have much more in common when it comes to the destruction of Ukraine.

Biden alone when it comes to the destruction of the United States.

Tom T. said...

Presumably Dowd avoids pointing out that Putin didn't invade Ukraine when Trump was president. If she truly cared about the Ukrainians, she'd want him back in office.

pacwest said...

"Vile path" = I don't like him. It's the current trend. State that Trump is like whatever bad guy and then list the bad guy's sins. Walla! Trump is a bad guy (if not worse) since they are named in the same sentence. Any of Trump's sins are made up accusations and omissions if not outright lies, but he's just like the bad guy because i said so, so there you go. Simple.

The tactic is as old as dirt, and as transparent as can be, but judging from Internet comments still effective on some people.

Dave Begley said...

Trump wants to destroy America?

Pure insanity.

Inga said...

“Would it be poetic justice for the walls to close in on Putin and Trump at the same time for the same reasons?”

Yes and we’re seeing it happen in real time with our own eyes. Poetic justice, Karma, call it what you will. Sometimes it takes years and years to happen, but it does seem to happen time after time.

SteveWe said...

That's an absurd comparison.

wildswan said...

During his time as President Trump rebuilt the US military. He armed it; it had not enough bullets to sustain a campaign in a war when he became President. He authorized development and procurement of new weapons and accompanying tactics. This stock of munitions, new weapons and new tactics (Javelins, drones, manpads, special forces tactics, satellite intelligence allied to on battlefield digital mapping and so on) is what the US using to help the Ukrainians and we can all see how effective the mix of Ukrainian courage and devotion is when properly armed and using proper tactics. I believe Trump's position is that Russia wouldn't have attacked the Ukraine had he been President. And we shouldn't overlook the fact that Trump developed arms and tactics which are making Russia regret its idea that with Trump gone they could attack. Congratulations are due to Biden and Blinken for supporting Ukraine in its efforts to control its own borders. .500 is a good batting average.
Well, suppressing Trump's achievements is routine. But Rush taught us to ask about any story in the news - why is that story in the news right now. Why is The Dowdo attacking Trump right now?
At present the Russians are organizing and carrying out a "vote" in the occupied territories using tactics such as using computers to identify people dependent on state money and then visiting them to "help" them with their ballots. This vote-gathering method was pioneered in Green Bay and elsewhere in Wisconsin in 2020 by the ZuckBuck organization and certainly is effective for administrative state purposes. 100% of those in senior care facilities including the demented were thus enabled to cast their ballots. The demented went 100% for Joe, I've heard; "he's one of us," they said, I've heard. Anyhow, Putin has noticed this new Tactic For Democracy and is using it to gather votes supporting annexation of Ukrainian territory. He's doing this at a time which is so close to a US election that the Dems are in a quandary - wishing to denounce Putin, yet wishing to continue to use their own techniques. "We have gathered and and counted ballots; We have had an election; democracy rules," as Putin is saying even now. What if people noticed a certain ... similarity, a certain ... preforedestination as Huck would say, when we hold our election? What to do? Simple solution, Scream loudly that Trump and Putin are the same. And keep on screaming.

Heartless Aztec said...

Just because Putin is a bloodthirsty savage doesn't mean he's wrong. Just because President Trump is an arch Queen's borough asshole doesn't mean he's wrong either. As for poetic justice, would that be a hai-ku or in sonnet form?
I'm glad you read the NYT for me otherwise I'd be wretching most vile.

gilbar said...

"Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, long entwined, continue on vile parallel paths: We would rather destroy ALL countries than admit they are right."
fify!

tcrosse said...

Lucky for Dowd that Putin exists, since comparing Trump to Hitler would be ridiculously hyperbolic.

Sebastian said...

"a scrim of lies"

Hey, Maureen, you mean, like, the Russia collusion hoax your own newspaper peddled for years?

RNB said...

Was Hilary Clinton 'destroying her country' when she contested the 2016 Presidential election? Was Al Gore 'destroying his country' when he contested the 2000 Presidential election?

L Day said...

Maureen Dowd really doesn't have a clue, does she.

Gahrie said...

I missed where the Left went from loving Russia (at least the USSR), to using them as a bogeyman to scare their voters.

Is it really just as simple as "We have always been at war with Eurasia"?

policraticus said...

As our ancestors [fought] an abusive overlord, against all odds, for democracy.

I was reliably informed that our ancestors fought an unjust war against legitimate authority that was threatening our ability to own slaves and profit from slavery. We fought for white supremacy and violence against enslaved Africans, the genocide of indigenous people and ruthless suppression of democratic social harmony in favor of oligarchy, capitalism, militarism, imperialism and the destruction of the Natural world.

Or, did I miss the latest memo?

policraticus said...
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Kansas City said...
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alanc709 said...

Who knew that Dowd posted here as Inga? Clinton will be tried for rape before Trump spends a day in jail.

Kansas City said...
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Kansas City said...
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Joe Smith said...

'For every dollar in aid the US sends Ukraine, $.50 gets run back to the Romneys, Bidens, etc.

If Ukraine loses, the Swamp will figure out another way to launder money back to itself.'

This is why that war will go on as long as possible.

Kansas City said...
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Ampersand said...

Dowd personifies elite progressive opinion in 2022. And the elite progressives are running the country. God help us.

J Melcher said...

I often see expressions used that assume a whole lot of facts not supported by evidence. The "Russian Hoax" or "Russian Interference" being two such expressions, two sides of a coin. Both assume (a) the Russians had a strong preference (b) they had the ability to "hack" the elections' computers / vote counting machines (or at the very least, to "hack" into party and candidates' computers to steal the secret strategies and playbooks from one side and provide such advantage to the other side) and that (c) they did so at the urging of, in cooperation with, and in exchange for favors from, their chosen side of the election. What actually happened, which can be proven, have very little to do with the levels of anger the slogans incite.

The 2016 slogan compares closely to "Election Fraud" and "Without Evidence" slogans used about 2020. Surprising things happened ...

Bob Boyd said...

Dowd must have been out drinking with Hillary again.

Original Mike said...

The walls are closing in…

"Shut down all the trash compactors on the detention level!"

Che Dolf said...

Would it be poetic justice for the walls to close in on...Trump...

It depends largely on whether there is significant evidence that election fraud cost him the 2020 race.

For example: More Republicans than Democrats requested mail in ballots in Michigan and Wisconsin, but election officials in both states recorded more mail in votes for Biden. Since afaik they didn't compare signature cards to ballot signatures to authenticate those votes, that outcome is suspicious.

Did Althouse ever look into that, at least in Wisconsin? It's impossible to judge Trump's alleged bad behavior if you don't examine the underlying issues, and if you don't do that, why bother talking about any of this?

Paddy O said...

Biden has a much, much longer history and current examples of being Putin's counterpart in the long lasting lies. Trump is just a real estate guy who got into politics late in life. Biden has much, much more in common with using politics for his personal, family ambition and all the ways he is abusing government now to attack his enemies and enrich his corrupt friends.

Dowd is basically a Putin toady then.

Bender said...

I see that the vile contemptible Soviet apologists are out in force today.

n.n said...

Plausible, but Dowd-ful, and probable misinformation, perchance disinformation.

Kansas City said...

This comparison is absurd. Neither Trump nor Putin are honest or otherwise of high moral character, but Putin is a dictator who commenced a totally unjust law that has killed thousands, while Trump played fast and loose to promote his personal financial and political interests. Also, whatever Trump's moral shortcomings, he was president for four years without any significant adverse consequences for America or the world.

I'm fine with the political demise of both Trump and Putin, but it is ridiculous to equate their behavior. Dowd can be interesting, but this is stupid.

Interesting that virtually all the comments are negative toward Dowd and, more importantly, to the premise of her column.

Surprising Ann seems to agree with it. Left wing issues like unrestricted abortion and Trump hatred make smart people say or agree with things that are not smart.

ccscientist said...

TDS is baffling. What is it about Trump that makes them lose their minds? Putin's political opponents have a habit of falling out of windows and swallowing polonium. Biden's political opponents get raided and arrested (35 trump associates plus 700 from Jan 6). Same tactic but biden (so far) is simply less brutal. Did Trump raid dem offices? No. Did he arrest a single dem pol? no. Lumping putin and trump is absurd.

Mea Sententia said...

Trump and Putin are only entwined in the minds of Democrats.

Josephbleau said...

“Trump played fast and loose to promote his personal financial and political interests.”

Yes, we all know about Trump univ and that he had gold fixtures in hotels, and he said nazis were fine people and he told us to drink bleach. The Beiden family are rich from influence peddling.

The tell is that to many people Trump needs prosecuting and Joe and Hunter are protected.

Why does one man need to be singled out for persecution and other men have their investigations buried. Can the Dowd followers explain why?

Michael K said...

Yes and we’re seeing it happen in real time with our own eyes. Poetic justice, Karma, call it what you will. Sometimes it takes years and years to happen, but it does seem to happen time after time.

Here we see Inga/Dowd projecting on Trump what the Bidens have been doing for years. Sadly (for them), I don't think Trump has committed any crimes but that won't stop a Hillary donating DC jury. The fascists like Inga and Dowd will applaud a show trial if it happens.

It makes me think of the Robert Bolt speech from "A Man For All Seasons.

God help you if a real dictator appeared after you had destroyed the law to "get Trump."

Fredrick said...

Perhaps the closing in of the walls will only result in the roof collapsing on Hilary and the neocons.

Mike Sylwester said...

This image shows the votes in Ukraine's 2010 election. On the far right are some very purple regions (oblasts), where the vote was 90% (NINETY PERCENT) for Viktor Yanukevych.

The European Union observed the election and declared that Yanukevych indeed won fairly.

Yanukovych campaigned on a pro-Russian platform. He won Ukraine's Russian votes and also enough Ukrainian voters to prevail.

In 2014, however, Ukrainian zealots in Kiev conducted prolonged protests against Yanukevych, preventing him from governing normally. Eventually, Yanukevych fled from his elected position and from Ukraine.

These protests were encouraged by the Obama Administration. In particular, Obama's "point man on Ukraine" was his Vice President Joe Biden. As a reward for Joe Biden's success in expelling Yanukevych from his elected position, Ukraine's main natural-gas company was compelled to hire Joe Biden's son Hunter, a crack-addict, onto its Board of Directors at a salary of $85,000 a month.

=======

As a consequence of the expulsion of Yanukevych from his elected Presidency, the Russian-majority regions, which had voted overwhelming for him, moved immediately to secede from Ukraine and to join Russia.

Crimea was able to conduct a referendum and thus voted overwhelming to secede, and the secession happened immediately.

However, the Donetsk and Luhansk regions were not allowed to conduct referendums. If they had done so, then they too would have voted overwhelmingly to secede.

======

Russians know all this history well. In contrast, few Americans are aware of it.

Therefore, Americans are baffled that Russians approve overwhelmingly Putin's invasion of Ukraine, which intends to allow Donetsk, Luhansk and other Russian-majority regions to conduct referendums and to secede from Ukraine and to join Russia.

=====

I denounce Putin's invasion of Ukraine. He should have used diplomatic measures patiently and persistently to cause referendums to be conducted in the Russian-majority regions, which should have been allowed to secede with super-majority (3/4 or 2/3) votes.

The problem could have been solved peacefully.

One factor in Putin's thinking was that he feared the expansion of NATO into Ukraine. Putin feared that this expansion was imminent.

traditionalguy said...

Maureen’s slander skills make it feel like the 1990s. Life was simpler then. Today she is not as funny. Maureen’s role now is to change the subject from the race between Biden’s Great Recession morphing into a Depression and an engineered world famine to weaken the surplus world population in time for release of the next bio-weapon engineered by Gates, with a nuclear war with the Russians coining up fast around the turn.

And death goes on. But just slander the former President and a rational Russian leader for entertaining content. And DC cheers for Might Maureen.

M Jordan said...

If 2016-2020 was a destroyed country, bring back the wrecking ball.

Mike said...

Ah the Maureen Dowdo Bird---soon to become extinct out of xer's own stupidity.

Maureen the lonely cougar at the end of the bar in the Oak Room really does lead a rich fantasy life. Like all of us she will eventually shuffle off this mortal coil. But if stupidity is a wasting disease she will get there quicker than most.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

en·twine
[ənˈtwīn]

VERB
entwined (past tense) · entwined (past participle)
wind or twist together; interweave:

"they lay entwined in each other's arms"

Freeman Hunt said...

Using "women's rights" as shorthand for abortion is really irritating. Speak for yourself.

Achilles said...

Just another stupid article written for stupid people.

The NYT's is staffed by stupid people and it is read by stupid people.

When you go past the point of people making you into a parody what is the point?

rhhardin said...

Dowd actually has a very nice self-deprecating sense of humor but that's not her job in the column.

Joe Smith said...

'Both assume (a) the Russians had a strong preference (b) they had the ability to "hack" the elections' computers / vote counting machines...'

If the Russians could do it in 2016, then the Democrats could do it in 2020.

So why hasn't anybody been allowed to audit those machines?

Hmmm...

Che Dolf said...
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Indigo Red said...

Assertions that Pres. Trump and/or MAGA are intent on destroying America, and our way of life is ludicrous and bordering on absolute stupidity. When confronted with such claims, I politely ask for evidence and get "Uhhh... umm..." in reply, followed by "ORANGEMAN BAD!"

BUMBLE BEE said...

Here's some Progressive results...
https://www.dailywire.com/news/california-school-with-social-justice-academy-has-19-math-proficiency
Similar to New York?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Dowd(D) does not understand that this is Biden's war.

Biden and his crooked handlers stopped American energy production allowing Putin to fill the void.
and he did.

Temujin said...

One needs only to look around themselves. Look at the US, look at the world today vs. the world in 2019. What is life like in the US today vs. 2019? How is crime, energy production, inflation? How is your retirement account or your 401k? How is our open border doing? And fentanyl overdoses? How is the homeless situation, particularly in Democratic run states and cities? How is our relation to our enemies and our friends vs 2019? Are we again cozying up to Iran? Is the world at the brink of a nuclear conflict today?

Funny. I remember all the lefty horror stories during Trump's years on how terrified they were that Trump was the one with his finger on The Button. But we had no wars with Trump. And it surely seemed like the Chinese, the Russians, the Iranians, and certainly the US media were all unsure of how to deal with Trump and more than just a little afraid to take him on.

How are we today? Dowd, like so many of her colleagues, refuses to see the evidence of their own senses. They stick to their script, The Narrative uber alles. While Biden and his out of control DoJ, with their bulldog FBI, have been arresting, harassing, jailing innocent people for simply questioning the last election, Dowd calls Trump the bully?

Reality is a foreign concept to these people. And the gulf between their world and the actual world grows wider with each passing month.

BUMBLE BEE said...

They should go back to real facts like covering Stalin. Bang up reporting right there.

Indigo Red said...

"For every dollar in aid the US sends Ukraine, $.50 gets run back to the Romneys, Bidens, etc."

I am aware of the physical equipment the US provides Ukraine and that it's expressed in dollar figures, but I'm not aware the US is sending actual money - dollars, greenbacks - to Ukraine. Am I wrong?

Achilles said...

There is some real shit going down in China right now.

lonejustice said...

buckwheathikes wrote:

"When Putin nukes New York, one can only hope the coordinates are about 1,500 feet above the New York Times building.

Won't be shedding any tears, I can tell you that."

------------

buckwheathikes -- You are a stupid deranged idiot. If Putin nukes New York, then we are done as a civilization. It's all out nuclear war at that point. Mutually assured destruction. Is that what you want? I don't understand why Professor Althouse allows you to post here. I suppose she does it because she wants all of us here to know what a stupid idiot you are.

Michael K said...

What actually happened, which can be proven, have very little to do with the levels of anger the slogans incite.

So, the Russia hoax, which was investigated $40 million worth, has no more evidence than the Hillary lie about "interference"?

Hmmm.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Shouting Thomas nails it.

Sydney Ski said...

Putin and Trump are entwined? Long entwined? Bullshit. And to believe that Trump doesn't love America enough is mind-reading bullshit. All we've been hearing from the proper peeps is that this time they got him. Sure, MF.

William50 said...

I may have a slightly less than popular opinion of Trump, but I thought the walls already closed in on him. At least that's what I read. How can they close in again? I wish these people would make up their minds.

It seems that the "walls" will always be closing in on Trump. I believe even after he is dead the Left will still be proclaiming that the "walls are closing in "on his corruption."

Just a thought. The Left can never really eliminate Trump. Without him they loose their biggest boogie man. The man who colluded with the Russians to win an election. The man who "peed" on the bed Obama slept in. If Trump were to leave the political stage the Left would have nothing.

i

Joe Smith said...

'Maureen the lonely cougar at the end of the bar in the Oak Room...'

Now that's funny.

But Mo is long past cougar stage.

She'd be lucky at this point to be in gilf territory : )

Lilly, a dog said...

Are we still pretending Ukraine v Russia is a real war? I thought everyone knew it was the elite engaging in high value money laundering.

Joe Smith said...

"I am aware of the physical equipment the US provides Ukraine and that it's expressed in dollar figures, but I'm not aware the US is sending actual money - dollars, greenbacks - to Ukraine. Am I wrong?"

"The U.S. has sent more than $54 billion to Ukraine since the war against Russia started, according to The New York Times. The aid package can be broken down into multiple types of aid.

Weapons and other supplies: $12.5 billion

Economic support: $9.4 billion

U.S. military deployments and intelligence: $9 billion

Food assistance, healthcare, and other aid: $7 billion

Military and security assistance: $6 billion

Grants and loans for military supplies: $4.7 billion

Migration and refugee assistance: $1.8 billion

Other foreign aid: $1.5 billion

Assistance for Europe, Eurasia, and Central Asia: $1.1 billion

Administration for Children and Families: $0.9 billion

Diplomatic programs and other: $0.5 billion

Enforcing sanctions: $0.3 billion"

There are ways to funnel money to favored political groups. Look at 'Economic Support.' Pretty damned vague. Nobody knows where this money is going.

A lot of it will go into Ukrainian pockets. A lot of it to Democrat front groups who will keep some and then funnel back some as 'campaign contributions' to the DNC.

Look at what NY governor Hochul did with a no-bid $637M covid tests contract.

"Reporting from Albany reveals that Gov. Hochul gave favored insiders — a family that donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to her campaign — a sweetheart deal amounting to $637 million.

The Tebele family, which owns Digital Gadgets, a New Jersey-based fulfillment center and distributor of tech products, got a no-bid deal to provide New York State with 52 million at-home COVID tests for $13 apiece — double what others were charging."

Jim at said...

I only read the excerpt and wondered, why does one even bother with such stupid shit.

There are better things to do. Life's too short.

Gunner said...

MoDo just cares about the "luminous ideal" of Hunter getting his Ukrainian bribes and sharing with the Big Guy.

Gunner said...
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Ambrose said...

A Trump-Putin parallel like this is sheer lunacy - but the NYT readers eat stuff like this up,

veni vidi vici said...

They're almost too obviously desperate to keep Trump's name top of mind for the midterms for even the Dem die-hards at this point to continue taking the idea seriously.

That said, I have some LA/WeHo friends and acquaintances that are so deep in the mire, all they talk about is the evils of Trump (and also now mayoral candidate Caruso - but only because he reminds them of Trump (no kidding - that's how idiotic the discourse is with these people).

How long can this go on? Frankly, it's leading me to the point of giving up on America. With its new WEF communism, the American empire feels like it's taking a dark turn into the sort of things it fought against 80 years ago. I need to move to the countryside.

Leland said...

Maureen Dowd doing her part for her pay masters. She doesn't want to talk about the worst recession in a decade, surpassing a pandemic. Inflation at a high not seen in 40 years. Immigration so out of control that Martha's Vineyard can't afford to take in immigrants while DC declares an emergency. A lost war in Afghanistan that has decimated US foreign standing around the world and gave up any US progress in that region over the last 2 decades. A weaponized DOJ that raids home of anybody that gives financial support to the opposition party. And a President that makes clear declarations one day only to have his staff overturn them the next day.

Few people read the NYT because it is useless. It is easier to ask, am I better off today than when the GOP was in charge? Nope, it is worse now than 3 years ago.

veni vidi vici said...

"God help you if a real dictator appeared after you had destroyed the law to "get Trump.""

Come on, Man! They're banking on exactly that happening and the dictator being one of theirs! Where have you been - born yesterday? Half the time they're not even trying to hide it anymore.

mezzrow said...

Couldn't she manage to throw Nixon in there, too?

Dig him up.

pacwest said...

During his time as President Trump rebuilt the US military.

Which is being depleted. First Afghanistan and now Ukraine. Our oil reserves are being depleted too.

madAsHell said...

"Solo Soulless Saboteurs"

Do they really think I'm gonna cough up a subscription for that tripe??

Jupiter said...

"It’s especially inspiring as a split screen with Trump and his MAGA forces trying to bulldoze
democracy and rip away women’s rights."

Do you suppose Dowd has ever exercised her rights as a woman?

Rusty said...

Indigo Red said...
""For every dollar in aid the US sends Ukraine, $.50 gets run back to the Romneys, Bidens, etc."

I am aware of the physical equipment the US provides Ukraine and that it's expressed in dollar figures, but I'm not aware the US is sending actual money - dollars, greenbacks - to Ukraine. Am I wrong?"
It's the kickbacks from the middle men. No bid contracts. Yeah. We'll give the 2.5 billion in 155 mm howitzer ammo, but you have to pay the shipping. That'll be 50 million. Ya ever wonder why the no bid contracts always go to the alderman's son in law. Wonder no more.

Rusty said...

Meanwhile. Howards favorite democrat it actually ruining the country.
New game. Every time the DOW drops 500 pts take a drink.

Dave64 said...

I think Maureen Dowd want Trump to grab her by the kitty!

Dr Weevil said...

Despite the large number of words, Mike Sylwester's 1:59pm comment omits some crucial facts. In between "the Russian-majority regions . . . moved immediately to secede" and "Crimea was able to conduct a referendum", he should have mentioned that Putin's military seized control of Crimea and the "referendum" was held under military occupation 3-4 weeks after they arrived.

Of course, many ethnic Ukrainians and Tatars fled Crimea when the Russian soldiers showed up, and so were unable to vote a few weeks later. (A friend of a friend is a Ukrainian professor who owns an apartment near the beach in Crimea. She hasn't been able to see it or stay in it for 8+ years, and the Russians living there have never paid her any rent.)

The results of the "referendum" were obviously fraudulent: 97% approval and 83% turnout in Crimea as a whole, 97% and 89% in Sevastopol, are the kind of results you get only from force or fraud or a bit of each. Wikipedia adds "These results are disputed, with a leaked report from Russia's Human Rights Council giving alternative figures of a 30% turnout and barely half supporting annexation."

This alone makes Mike Sylvester's comment utterly dishonest and utterly worthless, so I won't waste time impugning any of the other silly things he writes.

Original Mike said...

"TDS is baffling. What is it about Trump that makes them lose their minds?"

They lost their minds over BushHitler too. This has less to do with the target of their ire and more to do with the fact that they are undemocratic, intolerant, authoritarian thugs.

Lars Porsena said...

Blogger Bender said...
I see that the vile contemptible Soviet apologists are out in force today
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The only question is are they bots or obtuse humans?

Tom_Ohio said...

Its time for the gaslighting, for the demonizations, for all the attacks on not just half but the minds of All Americans be stopped in its tracks. A lot of people are way beyond fed up with clowns like NYT and Dowd and all the leftists media that lies to protect their Chosen Ones, and all the innuendos and vileness directed at and about regular Americans.

Maynard said...

I think Maureen Dowd want Trump to grab her by the kitty!

MoDo and the Resident Idiot have not been laid in at least 10 years.

They are at the point of blaming men for not wanting them. It is a terrible thing for women (or men for that matter) to be so undesirable.

Of course, it is all Trump's fault for reasons ...

Original Mike said...

Thanks for your comment, Dr Weevil. He had me feeling almost sympathetic to the "plight" of a despot who has brutally invaded his neighbor. I should have been more circumspect.

Lloyd W. Robertson said...

Putin and Trump entwined only by means of poetic license or outright lies.

Howard said...

Very triggering. Please exit through the Althouse Amazon Porthole

farmgirl said...

Hahahahahah!!!!
Good old cow, Dowd.

Grandpa, what’s for supper?
Projection &liberal tears, that’s what.

Bon a peti-tuh!

Michael K said...


Blogger Lilly, a dog said...

Are we still pretending Ukraine v Russia is a real war? I thought everyone knew it was the elite engaging in high value money laundering.


Why do you think the politicians of both parties in DC have such an irrational hatred for Trump? He was immune to bribes and threatened their grift.

Amadeus 48 said...

Dowd does a lot of wishful thinking. She is at it again.

Krumhorn said...

Yes and we’re seeing it happen in real time with our own eyes. Poetic justice, Karma, call it what you will. Sometimes it takes years and years to happen, but it does seem to happen time after time.

The correlative of Inga's and Dowd's fevered wish is that if Trump wins the next presidential election, THAT would be poetic justice in spades. It might be the central reason i would wish him success if he decides to run. With the concerted efforts of the FBI, the House impeachment committees, the NY Attorney General, the NeverTrumpers, and the relentless ostinato of columns such as Dowd's published and broadcast in the house organs of the Democratic party, it would be poetic justice indeed if he was reelected and given a friendly congress.

Mass self-immolations of the lefties in the streets could result. I love the smell of self-immolating lefties in the morning.

- Krumhorn

John henry said...

Hey Inga,

It's time for the "walls closing in" super cut again.

https://youtu.be/f1ab6uxg908

Slowest moving walls ever. They've been closing in for7 years now.

And seem no closer than 2015.

John stop fascism vote republican Henry

Michael McNeil said...

Trent Telenko points out that, as a result of the Ukrainians' recent victories north and east of Kharkiv — where they've recaptured thousands of square miles of territory (whence panicking Russian troops, supposedly some of the best-quality Russian forces, abandoned a division's worth of armor, and a brigade's [half or a third of a division's] artillery tubes — plus immense quantities of artillery and other ammunition, which the Ukrainians can also use in their existing stock of many hundreds of artillery tubes that were largely incapacitated early on in this war due to lack of ammunition) — as a result Ukraine no longer really needs the West's aid in pursuing the war as far as they want to take it. For the first time they can really match the Russians tube for tube.

This means that the the U.S., NATO, and the EU's leverage on the Ukraine to compel the latter's acquiescence in a course (such as surrendering large pieces of its territory in return for oh-so comforting words on paper) that the former may want — and as many here vociferously advocate — such overpowering leverage has now largely evaporated.

Inga said...

Oh the horror, somebody said something not nice about Trump. I’ve never seen so many grown people melt down over their Leader. Hey you want to get really mad? Hillary Clinton said Trump’s rallies were like Hitler rallies with all those rows of people holding up their fingers, but at Hitler’s rallies it was their whole hand. Now get mad! Maureen Dowd was actually being kind to Trump, she could’ve said so much worse.

Mike Sylwester said...

Dr. Weevil at 4:54 PM
The results of the "referendum" were obviously fraudulent: 97% approval and 83% turnout in Crimea as a whole, 97% and 89% in Sevastopol, are the kind of results you get only from force or fraud or a bit of each. Wikipedia adds "These results are disputed, with a leaked report from Russia's Human Rights Council giving alternative figures of a 30% turnout and barely half supporting annexation."

Look at Crimea on the map of Ukraine's 2010 Presidential election.

Crimea voted more than 70% (SEVENTY PERCENT) for Viktor Yanukevych, the pro-Russia candidate. The European Union declared that the election was fair.

After Ukrainian zealots in Kiev compelled Yanukevych to flee from his elected Presidency, Crimea conducted a referendum. The same overwhelming majority that had voted for Yanukevych in the 2010 Presidential election voted in the 2014 to secede from Ukraine and to join Russia.

Why should Crimean voters want to stay in Ukraine if their votes were not respected? Why not join Russia, where their votes might be respected?

========

In US mainstream-media articles about accusations that the Crimean referendum was rigged, here are some expressions that NEVER MAY BE UTTERED:

* baseless

* debunked

* without evidence

* false

* lies

* a big lie

Mike Sylwester said...

Dr. Weevil at 4:54 PM
(A friend of a friend is a Ukrainian professor who owns an apartment near the beach in Crimea. She hasn't been able to see it or stay in it for 8+ years, and the Russians living there have never paid her any rent.)

What does that have to do with this issue?

=======

Crimea was able to conduct a referendum because the Russian military was present and enabled Crimea to conduct the referendum.

Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts were not able to conduct similar referendums, because the Russian military was not present there.

Russia did not have to rig any referendums. The electorates that had voted overwhelmingly for Yanukevych in 2010 were sure to vote overwhelmingly to secede from Ukraine in 2014.

=======

The Obama Administration should have advised Ukrainians to allow elected President Yanukevych to govern normally until Ukraine's next Presidential election. Instead, the Obama Administration preferred to cause trouble for Russia.

Obama's "point man on Ukraine" was Vice President Joe Biden.

After elected President Yanukovych was expelled from his elected position, Ukraine's major natural-gas company was compelled to hire Hunter Biden, a crack addict, onto its Board of Directors at a salary of $85,000 a month.

Leland said...

Are we still pretending Ukraine v Russia is a real war? I thought everyone knew it was the elite engaging in high value money laundering.

Part and partial is also the ability to blame high energy prices on Putin rather than progressive "green" policies. It's part of the money laundering and also screws the middle class. Oh, "Canada will export Green Hydrogen to Europe", and its "green" because it is created by hydro-electric power. Except then it needs to be compressed, which requires more energy than needed to create it. Then loaded and remain refrigerated on to ships (that don't exist yet). And supposedly there is a place to receive it. Before the failure occurs, the politicians will have taken their "big guy" cut.

Andrew said...

Hi Ann,
No cafe yet, so...
Go Bucks.
14-0 at the moment of writing.

Dr Weevil said...

Mike Sylwester (6:23pm):

Do you think you can just repeat your 'after Yanukovych fled, Crimea voted to secede' argument again, and again OMIT THE FUCKING FACT that in between those two events, armed Russian soldiers seized all of Crimea by force? That the referendum was held under the military occupation, after many Ukrainians and Tatars had fled? Skipping that crucial step even after being reminded of it makes you a liar and a fraud.

Your argument is also moronic on its face. The county that surrounds my home-town voted ~75% for Trump, I'm pretty sure most of those Trump voters think the election was stolen from him, yet they have not voted to secede, and are highly unlikely to do so. Duh! Not to mention that electoral support in 2010 does not imply continued support in 2014, much less support for secession: Nixon went from a huge landslide to resigning in disgrace in less time than that.

Your freely-elected Yanukovych had in fact lost a lot of support in his four years in office by showing himself to be utterly corrupt, and by locking up Yulia Tymoshenko, the woman he defeated in the election, on utterly fraudulent charges, for three years. Amusingly enough, two Americans were later caught helping him trash her as a supposed anti-Semite: Paul Manafort (ha ha! ally of Trump!) and his business partner, Tony Podesta (oops! friend of Hillary, who got off scot-free).

The reported numbers for the Crimea referendum are in fact absurd, the leaked numbers far more plausible.

Finally, the fact that the enormously rich Yanukovych has lived in Russia and Belarus ever since fleeing Ukraine, when he could as easily gone somewhere much nicer like the Riviera, and that he is said to have been Putin's choice for a puppet-ruler of Ukraine if the Kyiv strike had succeeded, makes thoughtful people wonder if he was already working for Putin when he was president.

Dude1394 said...

She calls it destroying the country, I call it saving the country.

Lurker21 said...

Mo forgets that the US is also a player in the conflict, and we have anything but clean hands. I believed our government when they told me Ukraine's 2004 election was stolen, a claim that the media and our government made "without evidence."

I notice the Times has given Carlos Lozada of the Post a job as a columnist, today he writes about Trump and The Big Lie, citing Adam Schiff of all people -- the guy who told us for years that evidence of Trump's collusion with Russia was coming -- as an authority on Trump, Republicans, and The Big Lie.

These people don't even bother to look anything up or get anything right.

Paddy O said...

"Oh the horror, somebody said something not nice about Trump."

Bad, misplaced criticism about Trump both is distracting and misses the opportunity to offer good, important critiques of Trump (and Biden).

It's like saying "Oh, the horror, a doctor said something is wrong with your weight" when I went to the doctor because someone shot an arrow in my knee. Yeah, maybe I need to lose 15 pounds, but for the love of all that is good analysis, please do something about that arrow. Makes me think that the doctor I'm talking to may not be the most observant or interested in doctory things, and is getting some kind of funding from a weight loss company.

Michael K said...


Blogger Inga said...

Oh the horror, somebody said something not nice about Trump. I’ve never seen so many grown people melt down over their Leader.


The resident dullard ignores the fact that lawless officials of the Biden regime and of the New York State regime are conducting relentless lawfare against a former president who has already had 3 years of persecution, costing $40 million, with no result. The NY AG campaigned on a promise to persecute Trump. Not exactly non-biased or Rule of Law.

boatbuilder said...

Women's rights?

WTF?

tim in vermont said...

Remember when Stalin wanted to take the land from the farmers? Did he first arrange financing and then offer the farmers a fair price? No, he demonized them as wreckers and hoarders, turned the people against them, then simply took what he wanted.

So when you see somebody being demonized, ask yourself if maybe that person has something that the demonizer wants.

tim in vermont said...

Let’s say all Dr Weevil says is true, what is it to us? Why should we be risking WW3 over stuff happening on Putin’s doorstep, not ours?

tim in vermont said...

What caused this war, IMHO, was Biden’s letter in November, paving Ukraine’s way into NATO. He is a fuckup, he fucked up Afghanistan, he fucked up Ukraine, and now he is fucking up Taiwan. Trump calmed things down, Biden creates conflagrations out of tensions his predecessors managed to control; Fire Marshal Joe.

Paul said...

Dowd does not have a clue... she never did. They print what she writes cause they hate Trump.

And Putin is murdering a nation and Trump is not (and never was.)

This 'parallel path' is bullshit.

Mr Wibble said...

What caused this war, IMHO, was Biden’s letter in November, paving Ukraine’s way into NATO. He is a fuckup, he fucked up Afghanistan, he fucked up Ukraine, and now he is fucking up Taiwan. Trump calmed things down, Biden creates conflagrations out of tensions his predecessors managed to control; Fire Marshal Joe.

Basically, after the cock-up in Afghanistan, the Biden admin need a foreign policy "win." The goal had long been to bring Ukraine into NATO, so they pushed ahead with it and gambled that the Russians wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

Dr Weevil said...

Oh look, 'tim in vermont' wants somone, but not me, to answer his supposedly tough questions about what I wrote. Why doesn't he ask me to do so? Because last time I asked him for a link or a name or place or some kind of hint to track down one of his vague and implausible assertions, he said he saw no point in arguing with me and called me a Nazi. Asking me to do for him what he refused to do for me would show his flaming, gaping, syphilitic hypocrisy in all its glory.

If you doubt that even he would sink so low, click here and scroll down to the last 3 comments. He really is the moral equivalent of a Holocaust-denialist.

Mike Sylwester said...

Mr. Weevil at 7:01 PM
Your freely-elected Yanukovych had in fact lost a lot of support in his four years in office by showing himself to be utterly corrupt, and by locking up Yulia Tymoshenko, the woman he defeated in the election, on utterly fraudulent charges, for three years.

The proper remedy was to vote Yanukovych out of office in the next election.

Instead, the Ukrainians remedied his supposed corruption by expelling him from his elected position and then compelling Ukraine's major natural-gas company to hire Hunter Biden, a crack addict, onto it Board of Directors at a salary of $85,000 a month.

That was how the Ukrainian's remedied the corruption in their country.

Here in the USA, there has been a persistent effort to imprison our own former President Trump.

=====

The referendum vote was lopsided because 1) more than 70% of the electorate had voted for Yanukovych in 2010 because he was pro-Russia, and 2) many people who wanted Crimea to stay in Ukraine boycotted the referendum.

There is no good reason to think that the referendum votes were counted falsely.

Maynard said...

Why do I get the sense that MoDo and the Resident Idiot learned everything they know about politics and history from repetitive watching of The West Wing?

It is pretty much a Democrat masturbatory fantasy and better than a vibrator for frigid and frustrated women.

walter said...

I'm so old I remember NYT claiming they had to recalibrate.
Clearly, never happened.
Meanwhile, The Biden crine, drug and sexual deviant family sits atop the guvmint and dopes like Dowd can't unclench their TDS stressed sphincters long enough to delve into that hot mess.

Static Ping said...

When your premise is your conclusion, everything is easy. It's probably not correct, mind you, but apparently a journalist can make a living off it.

I wonder if she's noticed that the current resident of the Oval Office is senile, corrupt, and a sexual predator. Probably not. That's not the premise.

n.n said...

After the violent overthrow of the EU-certified democratically elected Ukrainian government in 2014 ("Slavic Spring"), the Ukrainians in Crimea were under assault by Kiev and paramilitary axis. They followed the Clinton model where we invaded Serbia, and targeted the civilian population, in order to establish what was to become Kosovo. The people in Crimea were under assault, denied essential services (e.g. food, water, electricity, medical care). Russians already had legal title in Crimea, and armed troops at their military base, so responding to the humanitarian crisis in Crimea was a natural and rational choice. The Ukrainians in Donbas finally invited Russians to stand with them after eight years of violence waged by Zelensky et al and paramilitary axis backed by Nato and American technology. Kiev already had a poor reputation and the expose of illicit Wuhan-style labs probably did not ingratiate them with their neighbors. So, Kiev, the paramilitary axis, and NATO doubled-down, and like Obama's World War Spring series, the Russians were invited by native people to intervene in order to mitigate the progress and sustainability of catastrophic anthropogenic climate change. All's fair in lust and abortion, and Biden et al shared responsibility to wage war on Ukrainians with "benefits", with a hope and dream to have an equitable and inclusive overthrow of Russian a la South Africa, Libya, etc.

gadfly said...

Since we are not alive and well and living during the time period between 1660 and 1710, it is unlikely that we will stumble into a Restoration comedy.

But the New York Post seems to imagine that Hunter Biden spent his no-longer-private life living back then before he could sue or be sued for infamous behavior.

Rt41Rebel said...

Tim in Vermont said:
"What caused this war, IMHO, was Biden’s letter in November, paving Ukraine’s way into NATO. He is a fuckup, he fucked up Afghanistan, he fucked up Ukraine, and now he is fucking up Taiwan. Trump calmed things down, Biden creates conflagrations out of tensions his predecessors managed to control; Fire Marshal Joe."

And all I heard for years was how Trump was going to bumblefuck us into a WW3 or worse. I hope Inga sleeps well knowing that WW3 is in slow motion progress, two superpower nations are now aligned against us, and the one that has more nuclear weapons than us is threatening to use them.

J2 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
J2 said...

"put them behind the same wall" - Edgar Allen Poe(tic Justice)

J2 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Dowd(D) - this is Biden's war, not Trump.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Say what you will about Dowd's writings, it keeps her off the street.

Howard said...

That's right, April. Biden will take credit for helping to save Ukraine from the evil clutches of Neville Trump and Adolf Putin.

tim in vermont said...

I think that maybe one of my favorite moments of this whole affair was to see posters here earnestly deny the US bio-labs in Ukraine when our proconsul there, Victoria Nuland, admitted to them under oath before Congress. It's *probably* not where monkeypox came from.

michaele said...

I smiled a bit when I read Buckwheathikes' comment at 11:32 in regards to Biden being an "invalid" president. At first, I thought the word was in reference to Biden being affected by disability (dementia) as opposed to not legally valid. How sadly apropos that either definition works for the Joe Biden of today.

Lurker21 said...

I would get more from a comparison of Trump with Boris Johnson or Silvio Berlusconi or maybe Jair Bolsonaro. Much more useful would be trying to find an analogue to Biden. The guy is the durrent president after all. Who would you compare him to? Hindenburg? Petain? Porfirio Diaz? We are more likely to find another comparison of Trump with some egotistical or demagogic nutcase out of The Philippines, Argentina, Italy or (shudder) Germany. Columnists work with what they have close at hand, and what they have close at hand is much less than Raymond Aron or Walter Lippmann had 60 years ago.

I think Biden is the worst president of my lifetime (down there with Jimmy Carter), but I came across a page of tributes and memories from longtime Wilmingtonians on a Delaware website. I can admit that at one point the guy had a talent for personal politics and that his constituents liked him and trusted him and felt connected to him earlier in his career. I don't see any of that in his conduct and policies now, but seeing that politicians have different sides and aspects is a part of being mature about politics. That is precisely what the media and the people who follow it don't want.

hpudding said...

“He should have gone scorched earth before leaving DC.“

The earth he would have scorched is American soil, American public property, the American tradition of laws and constitutional order.

But you think he should have scorched it just like the British did in 1812.

The problem conservatives have is that their ideology is the one that lost the Revolution. They are enemies of the founders and their ideals, yet they remain as a treacherous, sniveling perpetually scorned third of the country - just as the colonial American Tory Loyalists did after the monarchy they supported and fought for lost its war.

America loses when it fails to keep reminding this side of its subservient place in the country. It needs to be unapologetic when taking the upper hand and vigorous in walloping these scurrilous infants of just whose country they’re living in, no matter which symbols and fabrics they appropriate. And if they don’t like it they can go back to the country they clearly identify with - the one that just spent 2 weeks mourning a queen - with all the fabrics and symbols for doing so.

Go back to Britain, conservatives. Where the order and mindless tradition and loyalty you cherish so dearly is alive and well, and baked into every subject’s soul. How liberated you would feel to no longer pretend to love a country you clearly hate.

tim in vermont said...

"Biden will take credit for helping to save Ukraine from the evil clutches of Neville Trump and Adolf Putin."

This is what has taken us to the brink of nuclear war. Ukraine is of vital interest to Joe Biden's political fortunes, even if it is not a vital interest to America. It is both of vital strategic interest to Russia, and if Putin loses, he's gonna be laid out on a slab, literally, by his political enemies.

This war literally does not matter to the US in any important way. It's just a neocon-directed grab for world domination. Biden, politically, can't climb down after Afghanistan. He needs to be replaced by somebody less compromised by Ukraine; Harris could not be worse. The sunk cost fallacy should not be driving our foreign policy.

Aggie said...

No other politician in history has occupied the consciousness of the Chattering Class so thoroughly, and to such comedic effect, as Donald J Trump. He's just the gift that keeps on giving: Progressives couldn't wait to 'cancel' him in the world of Social Media, where he now enjoys daily resurrection by the same hands. Can't wait 'till he's re-elected.

Dr Weevil said...

When you see two men arguing in a bar and one hauls off and punches the other, you can be quite sure that he just lost the argument in a decisively humiliating way.

Mike Sylwester (10:03pm) has now demoted me to "Mr. Weevil" for much the same reason. I could come up with at least six different amusingly nasty variations on "Mike Sylwester", but only an asshole would do that, so I will continue to address him by his name or chosen pseudonym. (There's no way to tell which it is, and it doesn't matter.)

Mike Sylwester doesn't seem to notice any contradiction in denouncing Biden for trying to jail his predecessor, while ignoring the fact that his precious Yanukovich actually did jail the woman he had defeated (Tymoshenko) on blatantly false charges for 26 months, even while quoting me saying so in the very same comment!

He also insists that the Ukrainians were obligated to let him serve out his term, not even acknowledging my counter-argument that we did not allow Nixon to serve out his elected term, but kicked him out of office for far lesser crimes. (Nixon didn't even try to jail Hubert Humphrey or George McGovern for daring to run against him.)

As for all his stuff about Biden corruption, so what? The people who took over after Yanukovych fled the country are no longer in office, because the Ukrainian people kicked them out, too. After a brief interregnum, Yanukovych was replaced by Poroshenko, who served a full term and ran for reelection, and was voted out in a landslide for a comedian with zero political experience, Zelenskyy. Check the dates: all of the Hunter Biden-Burisma corruption happened under Poroshenko. I'm pretty sure the Ukrainians voted for Zelenskyy because they were sick and tired of corrupt professional politicians like Yanukovych and Poroshenko and decided to try something entirely different. I suspect a lot of them were inspired by the example of the U.S., which chose a businessman/comedian with zero political experience over a corrupt career politician in 2016. By April 2019, when Zelenskyy was elected, electing Trump had obviously worked out pretty well for us.

Way too many people on this site and others claim that Zelenskyy is totally corrupt, using a sleazy little pseudo-syllogism: Ukraine's government (like every post-Soviet government) has been notoriously corrupt for decades, Zelenskyy is now governing Ukraine, ergo Zelenskyy is corrupt. The first two points are true, but the third does not follow from them.

Finally, anyone who thinks an election with two real choices (not someone running unopposed) will ever come out 97-3 is a damned fool. David Duke routinely got 5% in all-black neighborhoods. It's easy to see why: at least 10% of voters in any neighborhood are so stupid, so crazy, or so drunk on election day that they might as well have flipped a coin, so any idiot (or maniac or racist) can get 5% in a 2-way race. The fact that 'keep Crimea Ukrainian' couldn't get 5% is an absolute proof that the results were fixed. And Mike Sylwester can't seem to acknowledge that there is a leaked memo showing very different results that appears to be genuine.

One more thing: the Russians are holding referendums in four oblasts right now: these feature women with clipboards knocking on doors demanding votes while a couple of bearded Chechens with machine guns stand right behind them (lots of pictures on the web). At least some of the voting places (3rd picture at link) have transparent ballot boxes so everyone in line can see how you voted. Thinking Putin's Russians are capable of running an honest election is a lot more absurd than thinking the opposite.

tim in vermont said...

Maybe Yanakovytch was fleeing the Nazi death squads.

I still don’t see a good argument for us being involved. Is it that Biden is slightly less corrupt? Biden is compromised and no matter how deeply you get into the arcana of Ukrainian politics, you don’t explain why we should be risking WW3 over the sanctity of a border drawn by Stalin, and don’t say “domino theory.”

Rusty said...

ccscientist said...
TDS is baffling. What is it about Trump that makes them lose their minds?
They aren't rational people. "They just know....." That Trump is,(insert your crime du jour here) No evidence to the contrary will convince them because they are not rational. Like little children they enjoy being scared. Like teenagers they thrive on anger.

Kirk Parker said...

mccullough,

"Ukraine is slightly less corrupt than Russia."

That is certainly plausible, but I am curious how you know.

Mind your own business said...

Let us agree that the place called Ukraine was never any of America’s business. For centuries we ignored it, through all the colorful cavalry charges to-and-fro of Turks and Tatars, the reign of the dashing Zaporozhian Cossacks, the cruel abuses of Stalin, then Hitler, and the dull, gray Khrushchev-to-Yeltsin years. But then, having destroyed Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia and sundry other places all on a great hegemonic lark, the professional warmongers of our land and their catamites in Washington made Ukraine their next special project. They engineered the 2014 coup in Kiev that ousted the elected president, Mr. Yanyukovich, to set up a giant grifting parlor and international money-laundromat. – James Howard Kunstler

Mind your own business said...


Let us agree that the place called Ukraine was never any of America’s business. For centuries we ignored it, through all the colorful cavalry charges to-and-fro of Turks and Tatars, the reign of the dashing Zaporozhian Cossacks, the cruel abuses of Stalin, then Hitler, and the dull, gray Khrushchev-to-Yeltsin years. But then, having destroyed Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia and sundry other places all on a great hegemonic lark, the professional warmongers of our land and their catamites in Washington made Ukraine their next special project. They engineered the 2014 coup in Kiev that ousted the elected president, Mr. Yanyukovich, to set up a giant grifting parlor and international money-laundromat. – James Howard Kunstler

PM said...

Trump is no different from any other rich person living or working in New York City. They're all assholes - some lovable - but all smarter-than-thou assholes. The NYT hates Trump because he was that insufferable neighbor asshole who rose above them. He can't be beaten down enough.